Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Intellectual Merit: In recent decades, there has been considerable interest in finding new
electronic materials to replace conventional semiconductors in applications ranging from
thin-film transistors to thermoelectrics. Because of the relative low-cost in their preparation
and their flexible morphologies, there has been growing interest in using organic
semiconductors, both polymers and crystals of small molecules. For new materials to be
incorporated into electronic devices, especially nano-structures, it is important to know their
thermal conductivities, so they can properly dissipate generated heat.
There has also been growing interest in developing organic thermoelectric devices, for
applications such as thermal energy harvesting in solar cells and heat-dissipation/energygeneration
in uniforms. In addition to their low costs and flexible morphologies, layered
organic materials have the advantage of typically low phonon thermal conductivities. We
will be measuring the thermal conductivities and Seebeck coefficients of small molecule,
crystalline organic materials developed at the University of Kentucky. The goal of this
research will be both to screen new materials for thermoelectric applications and to gain
understanding of how heat transport is correlated with structural properties. Measurements
will be made both the interlayer and in-plane directions on bulk crystals and thin films, to
assess how interfaces affect thermal properties.
A variety of techniques will be used for thermal conductivity measurements, including a
newly developed “ac” technique to measure the interlayer thermal conductivity. Since most
techniques actually measure the ratio of the thermal conductivity and specific heat, the latter
will be measured using differential scanning calorimetry. Thermopower measurements will
be made on “co-crystallized” doped materials in which the dopant molecule substitutes for
the host molecule without disrupting the crystal structure.
Broader Impact: The P.I. has a long history of working with physics graduate students in
experimental condensed matter physics research and preparing them for a variety of careers
in academic and industrial research and teaching. Two graduate students will work
throughout the academic year on this project (with possibly additional undergraduate and
graduate physics students in summers), getting experience in a variety of techniques not only
in characterization techniques, but in crystal and film growth, for which they will work
closely with researchers in the University’s Chemistry Department. These students will also
regularly attend (and give) departmental seminars and attend national and international
meetings.
In addition, the P.I. has considerable experience in working with undergraduate education
majors, both in classes and in having them doing summer research in his lab. The goal of the
latter program was to give students, especially those with career goals as elementary or
middle-school teachers and who had no previous scientific research experience, the
opportunity to get a hands-on taste of research that they could share with their future pupils.
This program has been extremely successful and will be continued under the proposed
program.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 7/1/13 → 6/30/18 |
Funding
- National Science Foundation: $369,000.00
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